Farewell my friend

Today, being Friday, I would normally find a funny cartoon or image from the internet to share with you.  But today is not a funny day.

Instead I want to tell you about someone very special.  You know those times when you meet someone and you know instantly you'd be friends, but because of distance or other circumstances that connection is limited by both time and opportunity.  S was one of those people in my life.

She and I work for the same organization; she in Winnipeg and I here in Regina.  Up until a few years ago, our paths would not have crossed. But when I became a supervisor, one of my "other assigned" responsibilities is to be involved in various hiring processes.  S is or rather was the advisor for these processes.

We first met about five years ago when I was new in my position and totally (and I mean completely) terrified of messing up a process because I knew very little.  S came to my rescue; she was available for all of my stupid questions and never made me feel like an idiot. She was expecting her first child at the time.  When the process was finally complete, she had given birth to her son and I sent an outfit to welcome him and to say thank you for all of her help.

Since that time I've been part of other processes and when S wasn't available to us, I missed her knowledge and expertise.  She was reassigned as advisor back to our office about six months ago and late last fall when I started another process to replace one of my staff, it was wonderful to work with her again.

We had numerous chats on the telephone and many e-mails.  It was as if we had never had a break in our conversations.  I was so excited for her when she told me she was expecting her second child.  The last e-mail I had from S was received on December 11.  I won't tell you what was in it, but it both made me laugh and reminded me that my work was appreciated.  That is the kind of person S was. I'm so thankful that I kept the e-mail and tucked it away in a personal folder to re-read on days when I feel less than inspired.

You see, yesterday we got an e-mail notification from S's boss that she had passed away in hospital on Wednesday afternoon.  She was surrounded by family and friends when she and her unborn child, a daughter, passed.  It was a shock to all of us who knew her in the Regina office.  It's heartbreaking to know that her family and especially her young son will be without her, and sad for us as we will miss her wisdom and her caring spirit.  I will miss her not only as a colleague but as a friend.  I only hope she knew how much she meant to me.

If you can please hug a friend today, or send a note or call someone far away. Life is not always fair and sometimes we don't get a second chance.